Legal Library: Cases and Proceedings

On Oct. 29, 2018, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint in federal court against Simple Health Plans LLC, Steven J. Dorfman, and five other entities, alleging that the defendants misled people to think they were buying comprehensive health insurance that would cover preexisting medical conditions, prescription drugs, primary and specialty care treatment, inpatient and emergency hospital care, surgical procedures, and medical and laboratory testing. On Nov. 1, 2019, the FTC filed an amended complaint adding Candida Girouard as an additional defendant.  

The Federal Trade Commission has issued a proposed order to settle charges that online counseling service BetterHelp revealed consumers’ sensitive data with third parties such as Facebook and Snapchat for advertising after promising to keep such data private.

The sellers of a supposed N95-grade face mask called the Zephyr will pay more than $1.1 million to provide full refunds to consumers nationwide, as well as a civil penalty, under a proposed settlement the Federal Trade Commission announced today. The order settling the complaint also bars Razer, Inc., from making COVID-related health misrepresentations or unsubstantiated health claims about protective health equipment and requires them to pay a civil penalty of $100,000. 

The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against payment processing company BlueSnap, Inc., along with its former CEO Ralph Dangelmaier and senior vice president Terry Monteith, charging them with knowingly processing payments for deceptive and fraudulent companies. The defendants have agreed to a settlement that will require them to turn over $10 million for consumers and stop processing payments for certain high-risk clients.

In a federal court complaint, the FTC charged that BlueSnap and its officers processed millions of dollars in credit card payments for ACRO Services despite substantial evidence that the company was fraudulent. The FTC sued ACRO Services in November 2022.

InMarket Media will be prohibited from selling or licensing any precise location data to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the company did not fully inform consumers and obtain their consent before collecting and using their location data for advertising and marketing.

A Federal Trade Commission action against household water treatment funding company Aqua Finance, Inc. (AFI) has led to a settlement that will provide $20 million in refunds and an additional $23.6 million in debt forgiveness for consumers harmed by its dealers’ deceptive sales tactics.

The FTC’s complaint against AFI charges that the company’s nationwide network of dealers went door-to-door, deceiving consumers about the financing terms for water filtering and softening products. According to the complaint, the bogus claims left consumers with thousands of dollars in unexpected debt and huge interest payments, while its financing terms impaired some consumers’ ability to sell their homes. 

Home products company Williams-Sonoma will be required to pay a record civil penalty of $3.175 million for violating a 2020 Federal Trade Commission order requiring the retailer to tell the truth about whether the products it sells are Made in USA.

In a complaint filed by the Department of Justice upon notification and referral from the FTC, the agency charges that Williams-Sonoma listed multiple products for sale as being “Made in USA” when in fact they were made in China and other countries. The company has agreed to a settlement that requires them to pay the civil penalty, which is the largest ever in a Made in USA case.

The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against bill payment company Doxo and two of its co-founders, charging that the company uses misleading search ads to impersonate consumers’ billers and deceptive design practices to mislead consumers about millions of dollars in junk fees they tacked on to consumers’ bills.

The complaint alleges that Doxo, its CEO and co-founder Steve Shivers, and its vice president and co-founder Roger Parks, have known from years of internal surveys and complaints from tens of thousands of consumers and hundreds of billers of the harms their business model caused consumers and have still failed to correct their unlawful actions.